Tips for Educating Children at Home

Instructions

• 1

   Establish a Learning Area

  
  For most children, home is a comfort zone, a place where they are safe and free to play, have fun and just generally be children and this is how it should be. However, if you have decided on educating your children at home you will need to designate some particular space in your home as a learning zone.
  
  In order to avoid distractions while learning, the learning area will need to be free of items such as video games and other similar distractions.
• 2

  Set up a schedule

  
  Discipline is crucial when it comes to teaching your child at home. As mentioned earlier, children can get too comfortable in a domestic environment, which can lead to lax behavior. The first thing you need to do is set up a schedule and promote discipline.
  
  Decide on a timing for studying and ask your child to follow those timings strictly. This is essential if you want to create a productive learning environment at home.
• 3

  Maintain an element of fun

  
  You don’t want to lose the attention of your child by making lessons too boring. Find a way to teach your child such that he or she would consider learning to be fun; however, don’t focus on fun too much otherwise it may overshadow the learning process.
• 4

  Participate actively

  
  Try to participate in your child’s learning by figuratively holding their hand through the process. For younger children, you could read with them instead of reading to them. For older children, sharing your own experience with a subject can also arouse their interest.
• 5

  Encourage discussions

  
  Ask questions and encourage your children to discuss things productively, assess matters and share their opinion. This will boost their confidence and promote free thinking and creativity.
  
  Moreover, asking them what they think about a particular subject or topic will allow you gauge their progress and reinforce their learning.
• 6

  Take field trips

  
  Taking field trips with your children is a good way for them to experience the topics and subjects they have been taught. Since you probably don’t have laboratories, a gymnasium or other facilities most regular schools provide, taking your child out on field trips to relevant locations is one way of giving them practical education.
• 7

  Encourage research

  
  Encourage your children to read and look up useful information on the internet. Although your child is probably not going to be writing his master’s degree thesis anytime soon, it’s never too early to promote the culture of research, which is the basis for all academic endeavors.
• 8

  Get a tutor

  
  As your child grows older it may become increasingly unlikely that any one person will have sufficient proficiency in all the different areas that he or she will need to learn about. At this stage you may need to hire a tutor to compliment your efforts, who should be proficient in the areas you are not.